Woo hoo, first post of the new year! I wanted to start this year off with a bang, so I decided to use some crazy stretch cotton I had in my stash to make some crazy pants! This also coincides well with my new years goal of using more fabric from my stash instead of buying more #thestruggleisreal. These are the
Ultimate Trousers from Sew Over It, a simple pattern that yields great results. The pattern is just front and back pieces with a waistband facing and a side zip, making this a quick and fun sew.
I decided to skip the muslin on this project, which is always risky when making pants, but I figured it was a quick enough sew that it wouldn't be too upsetting if they didn't turn out. Luckily, the fit was pretty bang-on! I made a size 14 grading up to a 16 in the hips. Next time I will do a 12 and grade up to a 14 because the pants stretch out a lot when worn. This is partially the fabric, and I probably should have guessed that would happen, but you live and learn :)
The waist fits really nicely and sits in a comfortable place for me. I chose to finish my facing with bias binding and slipstitched it down so it wouldn't bunch up. I finished all my seams with french seams and slipstitched the bottom hems as well. The result is a very clean pant with no stitching visible from the outside, a first for me :) I also put in my most successful invisible zipper yet using
this tutorial from Tessuti.
These pants are a little out there and kind of hard to style, but I love the mix of leopard print with the floral. Orange and reds and pinks are my favorite colour palette so I was pretty smitten with this fabric despite not being a huge animal print fan. I would love to make these pants again in some neutral fabrics, since I can see myself wearing this style a lot to work. The ankle length is also nice for warmer weather, but my legs were freezing during this shoot! Perhaps I'll stick to full length pants in winter next time.
I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season and new years!!! I am REALLY excited about this coming year and all the wonderful things I am planning to make, exciting places I am going to see, and lovely people I get to share it all with :)
Final Stats
Pattern:
Sew Over It Ultimate Trousers
Fabric: 2 meters of cotton with some stretch blended in.
Alterations: Graded up rom 14 to 16 in the hips, but finished pants are a bit loose for my liking. Measurements: W:33″ H:45″
